


Quiet Favors

by blunted_edge



Series: Halloween Fic-or-Treat 2015 [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst and Humor, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 03:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5189753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blunted_edge/pseuds/blunted_edge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeremy loves working for Achievement Hunter. Nothing could ever force him to stop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet Favors

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted [here on my tumblr](http://ahcity-shenanigans.tumblr.com/post/132259615145/fic-or-treat-jeremy-please) for halloweenie. people gave me short prompts and i got to flip a coin to see if it would be angst of fluff. in this case, angst.

The morning’s bright and lovely compared to the brutal southern summer; the heat is finally fading and the breeze feels wonderful. Jeremy hums a tune to himself as he steps up to the front door of the office, smiling as he swipes the keycard and lets himself in.

Ever a hard worker, he’s earlier than most. The building’s mostly dark and, like he does every morning, Jeremy flicks on the main floor lights; they take their time warming up and he likes to make things easy for everyone.

The early days when he first started working at Rooster Teeth still haven’t worn off– nobody’s _stopped_ Jeremy from doing menial tasks, so he keeps doing them. He boots up most of the computers. He waters the few potted plants sitting around. Toilet paper is restocked in the bathrooms, because who needs a dedicated janitor, honestly, and anything smelly in the kitchen fridge is thrown out.

Lastly is the coffee maker. Jeremy gets it brewing with a very specific three and a half scoops of coffee grounds, like he knows how Jack likes it, and then leans against the counter as it does its thing.

People start filtering in as he waits. Gus is usually first, and he’s _always_ too pissed off at being awake to acknowledge another human being, so Jeremy leaves him alone. After Gus is a toss-up between interns and the animators for RWBY.

It’s interns today, fresh-faced and innocent, ready to do hard labor so they can put the experience on their resumes or even– hopefully– work for Rooster Teeth in the future. Jeremy loves them. Sincerely. Not even a joke. He hopes the best for their futures and slips them candy bars throughout the day.

 The scent of strong, fresh coffee as it finally finishes brewing draws people in, and Jeremy lets them get their cups while he messes around on his phone. When the herd thins he gets his own cup, adds a spoonful of sugar and just a touch of creamer, and sets it on the bar just as Jack walks into the building.

“Good morning, Jack,” Jeremy chirps. Jack doesn’t reply; he walks up to the bar and looks at the perfectly tailored cup of coffee. He runs his hand through his hair and glances around– by now, the first coffee rush has cleared out and no one’s there except Jeremy.

Jack cups his hands around the mug and hunches over, sighing. “What the _fuck_ is going on?” He asks under his breath, then takes the coffee and heads to the Achievement Hunter office.

That sucks. Still, Jeremy loves this place and the people he works with. He likes doing nice things for them and he hates seeing them unhappy, especially since–

Well, he doesn’t worry about it. Jeremy ambles into the Achievement Hunter office, sits down at the row of computers behind Jack’s spot, and gets to editing.

He’s really into the zone of it by the time Michael and Gavin come in, but he snaps out of it when he hears his name.

“–Jeremy, too, but isn’t it bloody weird that it’s like… it’s like he isn’t even– gone?” Gavin’s obviously upset, and Jeremy stands up to watch over the wall of monitors between them.

“I don’t get what you’re saying,” Michael replies. He’s frowning at the other man very seriously, a stark difference from his usual laid-back attitude when he comes in to work. “And it’s, I dunno. It’s _weird_ how hung up you are about this, Gav. Jeremy’s–” He shakes his head and looks away. “You know.”

“I mean, who’s doing Jeremy’s job now? It’s getting done. I know it is. None of us are doing it.” Gavin tosses a bag violently onto the floor next to his desk, then turns back to Michael. “Something’s going on. I don’t like it.”

Michael rubs his face, still refusing to look at Gavin as he replies in a measured tone. “Geoff probably talked to someone. I don’t know, man, and I don’t want to fucking talk about it. Okay? I’m not up for it.”

Gavin shuts up with a pinched look, then sits down at his desk and shoves a pair of headphones over his ears. The room goes painfully silent.

It occurs to Jeremy to take a glance at Jack. The man has stopped his daily research for AHWU completely, and he’s staring at his mug of coffee again; Jeremy can’t see his face.

“Aw, fuck,” Jeremy mumbles, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

He leaves the office and wonders what to do. Maybe he should stop _doing_ things, but he’d go stir crazy without anything to focus on. Plus, who would leave candy bars for the interns? Jeremy can’t let that short-lived tradition die.

In the end he decides to get candy for Michael and Gavin, too, for lack of any better ideas. It was easy to figure out how to phase his hand through the glass window of the vending machine yet still be solid enough to nudge things off their racks, and that’s what he does now.

It’s as he’s rounding a corner that Geoff walks straight through him. Jeremy drops the candy bars and jumps away as the other man halts abruptly and breaks out into goosebumps.

“ _What_ –” Geoff starts to shriek before he cuts himself off, his whole body shuddering as he looks around wildly before staring at the candy bars on the floor. “What the fuck? Were those just–” Geoff shakes his head, then takes in a deep, steadying breath before turning right around and walking quickly away.

“Sorry…” Jeremy says, for all the fat lot of good that does, since Geoff can’t hear him anyway. “Sorry, Geoff.” Again – for lack of anything else – he picks the candy up and follows after the other man.

He slips the candy bars into Michael and Gavin’s bags when they’re not looking. Ryan comes in late with some excuse about his kids. They get into the swing of things and Jeremy watches over their shoulders as they record videos.

It’s during a GTA Things to Do when Jack mumbles “I miss Jeremy.” into the mic. He sets down his controller and leans back in his chair, looking at his now-cold cup of coffee.

Everyone else pauses, too, since they’re obviously going to cut _this_ out of the video. It’s such an ingrained habit that Ryan even writes down the timestamp from his capture before he realizes what he’s doing and that the moment is going _maudlin._

“Aw, guys, don’t get sad,” Jeremy pleads, because it’s been two weeks now and they’re mostly past the stifled silence of the office when– since that day. He hates seeing them like this.

There’s a few moments where everyone tries to decide if they just move on or address it, and Gavin’s the one to finally choose. “ _Geoff,”_ Gavin whines childishly, “Jack made it _sad_.”

“Yeah!” Geoff warbles, because he can successfully stifle his grief as long as he doesn’t have to talk out loud. “Fuckin’ nerd, missing Jeremy. I bet he’s so happy right now knowing that you’re thinking about him, Jack. What, did he suck your dick one time?” His voice cracks repeatedly and he sniffles loudly at the end of it, but he soldiers through and Jeremy’s proud of him for it.

“If only!” Jeremy chimes in, because he can’t resist that bait even if he’s a goddamn ghost and nobody can hear him anyway.

“C’mon, guys,” Ryan says when Jack remains silent, because the situation _is_ pretty awful, probably. “Don’t.”

“Hey, Lil J always rolled with the punches.” Michael replies. He’s subdued about it but he manages a smile. “I think we’re past the point of tiptoeing around it now. We all know this room is full of assholes, anyway.”

“What if Jeremy’s haunting us _right now_ , hoping we all go to Hell?” Gavin asks cheerily, then resumes his game of GTA V and runs Ryan’s character over with a stolen car.

Ryan shouts in outrage as Gavin yells “Victory!”, and they all steadily work their energy back into the video.

Jeremy slips a box of tissues near Geoff’s elbow and fetches a fresh cup of coffee for Jack, who startles at its presence when he notices the steaming mug but smiles slowly and takes a sip.


End file.
